Vol. 28 No. 1
Library remains priority despite finances
The drive for a new library at Penn
State Harrisburg continues, Provost Ruth
Leventhal said recently, despite budget
cuts within the university and less state
support for university building projects.
As part of her State of the College
address on Aug. 21, Leventhal said a firm
had been hired to calculate how much
money might be raised locally to support
construction of the college's long-needed
library.
The firm, Grenzenbach, Inc., advised
the university on its last fundraising
Leventhal reacts to budget cuts
Calling the 1992-93 school year one
of "threatening promise," Penn State
Harrisburg Provost Ruth Leventhal, in
an address to faculty and staff on Aug.
21, described a three-year program of
budget cuts the college faces.
The provost described how Penn
State Harrisburg faces $1.3 million in
budget reductions between 1993 and
1996.
Various campus leaders have made
Ruth Leventhal
Outreach center established
Matt Hunt
Capital Times Staff
In response to the southcentral
Pennsylvania region's demand for extended
research, training and counseling services
in the business and industrial community,
Penn State Harrisburg and Penn State
York introduced a new outreach program
on Aug. 3, 1992.
Operating under the auspices of the
Penn State Harrisburg School of Business
Administration, the Business/Industry
Outreach Center (BIOS) maintains three
locations--Penn State York, Penn State
Harrisburg's Eastgate Center and Olmsted
W-355.
"I hope businesses in the capital area
will take notice of BIOS and our
Cap
ital T
Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg
campaign, which closed 60 percent over
its goal, Leventhal said.
Leventhal noted that last year the
governor's staff began to require all new
buildings funded with state money to raise
40 percent of the total needed themselves.
Formerly, the state funded 100 percent,
she said.
Leventhal said she has also appointed a
steering committee of community leaders
to help determine how the 40 percent
required of the college could be raised
locally.
recommendations for cuts, but the
provost stressed that she wants to
collect suggestions from students,
faculty and staff on how the cuts should
be handled.
A series of meetings has been
_scheduled to collect these suggestions
(see box, p. 6).
Despite the budget cuts, the provost
said the college is called upon to avoid
layoffs, to not reduce enrollments and to
improve educational quality.
Provost seeks input about budget
The academic year 1992-93 will be the
most challenging year of my tenure at
Penn State Harrisburg because of the
many challenges before us.
As you may remember, Penn State
Harrisburg had one short rollback of
temporary funds on the order of one half
percent and three percent of our budget
during the last two years, and this year, a
state budget has been approved which, for
the first time in many years, cuts the
permanent budget of Penn State along
with budgets of other state-owned and
state-related universities by about three and
a half percent.
This past March, along with all other
Penn State colleges and major non-
resources", said Assistant Director Mary
Anne van Arsdale.
Along with counseling clients, van
Arsdale will oversee the center's staff and
mangage its day-to-day activities.
BIOS offers these six programs:
University Connnection -An
information line where callers receive
information on economic development
programs, funding resources and financial
assistance programs. Callers can speak
directly with a counselor at (717) 948-
6069, Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5
p.m.
See Blos; page 6
James Mead, president of Capital Blue
Cross and of the Penn State Harrisburg
Board of Advisors, is chairing the
committee.
In addition to funding, Leventhal said
the "main stumbling block" is that the
governor has not yet approved the library
construction.
The Penn State Harrisburg library had
been among approved projects in the
capital budget bill passed by the
legislature two years ago. But, Leventhal
said, "the governor eliminated the project
along with most other new building
Among the steps to reduce costs is a
proposal to reinstitute an annual parking
fee, a recommendation the provost called
"particularly painful."
Recommendations also call for
reductions of some student activities and
leaving positions vacant in inter
collegiate athletics. along with reduced
operations in health and other support
services.
Elective courses will also be "held to
a minimum," the provost said.
academic units, we were asked by the
president to develop a strategic plan for the
next three years to result in a reduced
budget and a stronger college. A university
"future committee" was formed by
- President Thomas to guide this process.
On July 15, I met with the university
future committee to present preliminary
thinking based on recommendations to me
from campus leadership about this process
and I want to share with you today those
recommendations.
I also want to tell you my plan for
receiving the consultation of the faculty,
staff and students on these
recommendations so that by Nov. 1, when
we need to submit our strategic plan for
cuts, for reallocations of funds and
enhancement funds, I will have had the
opportunity to hear the best wisdom from
all of you about how to proceed.
PSH student wins
Any student knows hard work and
time management can really pay off.
But not many know it better that
Bonnie Etzweiler, a Penn State
Harrisburg student who recently won
the 1992-93 Harsco Corporation
Scholarship.
Etzweiler, a junior secondary
education English major, said the
$2,500 scholarship will help her ease
the financial strain caused by the
increasing costs of tuition.
"I don't have to worry about
mes
scholarship
September 4, 1992
projects in the final round of reviews."
An addition to the Pattee Library, at
University Park was approved several
years ago and is pursuing its fundraising
campaign.
Members of the Penn State Harrisburg
Board of Advisers are working with
University President Joab Thomas to win
support for the Penn State Harrisburg
library from the legislature and the
governor, Leventhal said.
The Heindel Library has been plagued
by lack of space for books and staff.
However, the provost noted that no
layoffs of any current permanent faculty
or staff are recommended for this year.
Some of the money cut will be
returned to the college "to improve
quality," the provost said. A portion of
this money will be available to
programs on a competitive basis.
An edited version of the provost's
State of the College speech appears
below.
I also feel we're Yucky at Penn State
Harrisburg because of the commitment to
quality and teamwork of our internal
college leadership, those who have
collegially struggled to find
recommendations for ways to meet our
mandate to reduce our permanent budget
by 10 percent.
That's $1.3 million dollars between
1993 and 1996, while achieving mandates
from the university future committee that
we improve the quality of our educational
initiatives, increase faculty research, avoid
layoffs as much as possible and not plan
for reduction in student numbers. A tall
older.
The college leadership has also
developed recommendations for
reallocation of funds and enhancement
See Speech, page 6
money," Etzweiler said. "It frees me to
concentrate on my studies."
But school isn't the only thing
taking up her time. Etzweiler is also
the mother of four children.
And if shat isn't enough, this Perry
County resident volunteers for the La
Leche League International, an organ
ization which promotes breastfeeding
to new mothers.
She has also organized workshops
for the organization, while leading a
support group.